| Stone, Staffordshire |
Article Index for Stone |
Website Links For Stone |
Information AboutStone, Staffordshire |
|
Stone is a town in Staffordshire , England , situated about seven miles north of Stafford , and around seven miles south of the city of Stoke-on-Trent . It is the second town, after Stafford itself, in the Borough of Stafford , and has long been of importance from the point of view of communications. Stone gave its name to both an urban district council and a rural district council before becoming part of the borough in 1974. In 2001 it had a population of 14,555. EARLY HISTORY Stone was the capital of early Mercia , a powerful Anglian kingdom that later expanded over most of what is now the West Midlands. Christianity arrived via monks from Lindisfarne around the year 650 , King Penda of Mercia having invited them in. The capital was later moved to Stafford , and then to Tamworth . GROWTH IN POPULATION Some figures are as follows:
HISTORY OF COMMUNICATIONS Roads Stone stands in the valley of the River Trent , and was an important stopping-off point for the Coach es on one of the roads Turnpiked in the 18th century. A directory for 1851 says that ''Stone was a very lively town, and a great thoroughfare for coaches, carriers and travellers … No fewer than 38 stage coaches passed through the town daily''. The road was later to become the trunk road (the A34 ) from Birmingham to the North, but Stone is now by-passed by the M6 Motorway . The Trent & Mersey Canal The River Trent , which runs through the town, had been used for cargo-carrying vessels since Roman times but the further inland, the smaller the boats that could be used. Seasonal fluctuations in water depth proved insurmountable, although cargo could be carried from the sea as far south as Wilden Ferry (SE of Derby ), where the River Derwent joins the Trent and increases the quantity of water, then onwards by road. James Brindley , the canal builder, put forward the scheme to build what he called the Grand Trunk Canal to connect the two rivers, Mersey and Trent in 1766. It was backed by Josiah Wedgwood who saw that it offered an efficient way to bring raw materials to the potteries and to transport finished wares to his customers. By 29 September 1772 (Brindley died on 27 September ), 48 miles of the Grand Trunk Canal (now known as the Trent & Mersey Canal) from Wilden Ferry to Stone was navigable - the length past Burton-on-Trent being completed in 1770. Stone became the Headquarters of the canal company with its office at Westbridge House, sited then below Star Lock on what is now Westbridge Park. The offices were moved later to Stoke On Trent . John Joules Brewery brewed beer from 1758, although it is now closed. The canal playing a great part in their export. They once owned a pair of boats that delivered coal to the brewery and as late as the 1950s had the telephone number ‘Stone 1’. Joules bottle store remains an imposing building on the canal. The Star Public House was fully licensed in 1819 although the building predates the canal by some 200 years. The building has in its time been a butcher’s shop and slaughterhouse. Stabling for boat horses was available up to the 1950s and the business relied heavily on the canal for trade. Railways The coming of the railway was to end Stone’s era as a coaching town. The North Staffordshire Railway opened its main line from Congleton through Stone to Norton Bridge on 3 April 1848 ; the following year a branch line from Stone to Colwich began operating. STONE TODAY Stone parish church, dedicated to St Michael the Archangel, is at the south end of the town. It was commenced in 1753, and finished in 1758. Christ Church stands on the north side of the town, where the population is still increasing. It was erected in 1839. The M6 Motorway bypasses the town, as does the West Coast Main Line rail route. The canal still dominates the town, as witness the following:
Yarnfield Park Training & Conference Centre just outside the town is a major training centre for the UK telecommunications industry. It is owned by BT Group and run by Accenture . PERSONALITIES
Rendel was a pioneer of Narrowboat holidays.
External links
|